What's Worth Fighting For
by dream-of-belief
Summary: Or "Perfection." Fourth installment of second-person character pieces, focusing on Jesse St. James. "You became obsessed. Obsessed with singing. Obsessed with dancing. Obsessed with perfection."


**_Title:__ "What's Worth Fighting For" _(or _"Perfection")_**

**Confession time! I absolutely adore Jesse. Yes, it's completely obvious that he's using Rachel. Yes, I know he's only going to be on the back nine. Yes, I still love Finn and Rachel. But...there's just something about him that I can't help but like. Maybe it's because it's Jonathan Groff and his voice is about ten times better than any other guy on the show. Maybe it's because we have no idea about what motivates him. Maybe it's because the "Spring Awakening" fan in me just loves seeing him and Lea acting and singing together again. Whatever it is, I can't help but like him. So...here is a Jesse character piece. Since we have so little to go on, of course he's going to be a little out of character. I don't think we know enough about him to have a set "character." All we know about him thus far is what he has told us. Because of this lack of information, I made up a back-story for him. So...here is my Jesse character piece! **

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You have always been a star. Always. People have always looked at you and pointed at you and been amazed by your talent. They used words like 'prodigy' and 'genius.'**

At the age of three you began to play the piano.

Two years later you were playing Bach.

So you moved on to the violin.

By the time you were nine you could play Vivaldi.

Next was the guitar.

You were thirteen when you could almost give even Jimi Hendricks a run for his money.

By the time you reached high school you had at least dabbled in every instrument in the music store. You couldn't get enough of music. You played it so much it became as easy as breathing. Your parents spent vast amounts of money on buying you Steinways and Les Pauls.

None of them ever felt _right,_ though.

It wasn't until you were in junior high that you ever considered singing.

The first month of junior high, you saw Vocal Adrenaline perform.

You were star struck. You promised yourself that you would be up there. You promised yourself that you would be singing and dancing with all of those incredible dancers.

Your parents got you the best vocal teacher and the best dance teacher in Ohio. You worked harder than you had ever worked in all your years as a musician. Everything you did had to be perfect. Anything less than perfection wouldn't be good enough for Vocal Adrenaline. You _had_ to be good enough for Vocal Adrenaline. They were the best of the best. _You_ had to be the best of the best.

You became obsessed. Obsessed with singing. Obsessed with dancing. Obsessed with perfection.

Before long it was your time. You were in high school and could audition for Vocal Adrenaline.

They tried to intimidate at the auditions. Your fellow hopefuls all looked at the near-professional performers with mixed looks of anxiety, fear, and awe. You can see the fear in their eyes.

You are not intimidated. You can see the imperfections now. Even Vocal Adrenaline isn't perfect.

It does not surprise you when the coach tries to intimidate the freshmen even further by having them perform leading parts with the rest of the group. It does not surprise you when most of your peers cannot handle the pressure. It does not surprise you when many leave in tears.

Unfortunately, you have to wait for your audition. The auditions are held according to alphabetical order. One by one people go before you. Soon, you are the only one left.

You are nothing but confident when you take the stage. You know that nothing can go wrong. You know that you will be nothing short of perfect.

You take the stage and tell the musicians what will be performed. You know that it is a song that Vocal Adrenaline has performed before. In fact, you know that it is the song that won them Regionals the year before. You see them scoff when they hear your song choice.

_He'll never pull this off,_ they whisper.

Then you start to perform.

You effortlessly reach the high notes. You are perfectly on cue, watching the other dancers for almost unnecessary clues. You take complete control of the stage.

You are perfect.

It does not surprise you when you are given the lead. It does not surprise you when you take the team to Nationals three years in a row. It does not surprise you when you are immediately snatched up by college after college. It does not surprise you when you easily take Sectionals in your senior year.

What _does_ surprise you is when you see an amateur group do so well in their own Sectionals performance. It surprises you when you see that "New Directions from McKinley High School" do not perform the songs that they planned to perform. It surprises you when you see that they change their performances because the teams that go before them perform their songs.

What surprises you most is Rachel Berry.

You don't know who she is at first. You only see how talented she is. You only see how powerful her voice is. You only see how she is able to fill an auditorium with her voice in a way few people can.

You find that you have to _search_ for imperfections. In fact, you can only find imperfections when looking at the performance in hindsight.

And really, is not showing the same emotion as Barbara Streisand _truly_ an imperfection? You probably would not be able to do such a thing.

Rachel Berry is someone to worry about. She is the closest anyone has come to perfect since you became obsessed with it. She could take her ragtag team far.

Perhaps further than you can take your near-professional team.

So you are worried about Rachel Berry.

You research her.

You find out she has a MySpace page on which she posts videos daily.

And as much as you want to, you can find no wrong in the performances she sings to her camera.

She's perfect.

Not only is she perfect, but she's perfect for you.

You want to sing with her.

It is like when you first saw Vocal Adrenaline perform. You become obsessed. You find that she has been involved in singing and dancing longer than you have. You find that she has practiced and taken lessons from the best for most of her life. By looking on her MySpace page further, you find that she is not well-liked. That does not surprise you. After all, not many people like you either. People rarely like others that are more talented than them – and _know_ they are more talented than them.

You find her in the library completely on accident.

When you see her, however, you know what you are going to do.

You know that you are going to sing with her.

After all, they were perfect. Why shouldn't they sing together?

Just as you thought, it is perfect. _She_ is perfect.

She could be more perfect than you.

It scares you. Not that you would ever admit to such a thing.

But singing with Rachel Berry in that library has made you see just how dangerous she is. She could beat you. She could beat you with her team of amateurs.

So when Shelby asks you to spy on her, you agree. Tentatively. After all, you're Jesse St. James. You don't need to cheat to win. Usually, at least. But Rachel Berry could compete with you. Rachel Berry could beat you.

And that's something you just _can't_ have.

Despite what people may think, you do not find it easy to fool Rachel. Under different circumstances, you may have actually befriended her. Under different circumstances, you may have actually wanted to date her.

In fact, you find a part of you actually wants to befriend and date her despite the circumstances.

But you are Jesse St. James. Jesse St. James won't give up a singing competition because of a girl.

So as much as you think you could like Rachel Berry, you won't let yourself fall for her. You will use her and hurt her and win Regionals.

You don't feel good about having to hurt her. Then again, you won't regret it either.

You are Jesse St. James.

And you will not let anyone get between you and your dreams.

Not even Rachel Berry.

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**So, I actually really liked how this one turned out! It turned out a lot differently than I thought it would. I would LOVE reviews that give constructive criticism. Thanks for reading**!


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